Service provision system and automatic photography system

• US 7,477,841 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2004
• Issued: 01/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Yoichi, Shinohara, Mamoru, Yamaguchi, Hiroshi, Enomoto, Jun
• Primary Examiner(s): BLACKMAN, ROCHELLE ANN J
• Application Number:
  US10/946,623
• Publication Number:
  US 20060056832A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,574 Days
• Field of Search: 396/56, 396/57, 396/59, 396/429, 396/211.2, 348/61, 700/90
• US Class Current: 396/56
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/00 Details of cameras or camera bodies; Accessories therefor lens hoods or caps G03B11/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00132 in a digital photofinishing system, i.e. a system where digital photographic images undergo typical photofinishing processing, e.g. printing ordering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00137 Transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00143 Ordering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00148 Storage information retrieval G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00172 directly from a still digital camera or from a storage medium mounted in a still digital camera H04N1/0018 takes precedence

Abstract

In a system for providing a service to members of a group, a more complex form of the group can be flexibly and appropriately dealt with, and the service that is more convenient for the group can be provided. A group management database stores a group property, thereby a quantity of prints printed by a laboratory and information provided by a terminal can be determined based on the group property and the number of the members, for example. Furthermore, the group can be changed. In addition, security of image search can be set for the group by using the terminal. One of the members in charge of payment is registered for the group so that the member can collectively pay for the group.

Claims

1. A service provision system comprising:

group registration means for registering respective members of a group comprising customers, by relating group identification information for identifying the group to personal identification information for identifying each of the customers, and

service provision means for providing a service of high convenience for the group to each of the members of the group, wherein

the group registration means further registers a property of the group by relating the property of the group to the group identification information of the group, and

the service provision means provides the service according to the property of the group,

wherein the service provision means provides an information provision service and comprises;

information storage means for storing information on various goods and/or services to be provided to the customers, by relating the information to the property, which is suitable for provision of the information, of the group; and

information output means for outputting the information appropriate for the customers of the group, based on the property of the group identified by the group identification information related to the personal identification information of the customers.

2. The service provision system according to claim 1, the service provision means providing an automatic photography service and comprising:

identification information transmission means for transmitting the personal identification information while being held by each of the customers;

photography means for carrying out automatic photography of the customers having the identification information transmission means upon reception of the personal identification information from the identification information transmission means;

image storage means for storing an image output through the automatic photography by relating the image to the personal identification information received by the photography means; and

image output means for obtaining the image from the image storage means and for outputting the image as a print or prints on a predetermined printing medium, wherein

the image output means determines a number of said prints to be output based on the property of the group identified by the group identification information related to the personal identification information related to the image.

3. The service provision system according to claim 2, wherein the group registration means registers the respective members of the group by performing a zone group registration, wherein the members of the group enter a predetermined zone, and the group registration means receives the personal identification information of the members of the group from the respective identification information transmission means of each of the members of the group entered in the predetermined zone.

4. The service provision system according to claim 1,

the service provision means further comprising customer registration means for registering a property of each of the customers by relating the property to the personal identification information thereof,

the information storage means storing the information by further relating the information to the property, which is suitable for provision of the information, of each of the customers, and

the information output means outputting the information appropriate for each of the customers, based on the property of each of the customers related to the personal identification information thereof.

5. The service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the personal identification information is recorded in an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification).

6. The service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the property of the group describes a relationship between each member of the group, and the relationship is associated with the group identification information of the group.

7. The service provision system according to claim 6, wherein the service provision means provides the service to each member of the group based on the relationship between the each member and the other members of the group.

8. The service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the property of the group describes a relationship between a set number of members within the group, wherein the set number of members is less than a total number of members of the group.

9. The service provision system according to claim 8, wherein the service provision means provides the service to each member among the set number of members of the group based on the relationship between the each member and the other set number of members within the group.

10. The service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the group identification information comprises a group identifier, wherein the group identifier is associated with the personal identification information of each of the members of the group, and the service provision means provides the service to each member of the group based on the group identifier.

11. The service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the information provision service further comprises:

update information means for notifying the customers of the group of a newly introduced service of the provision service.

12. A service provision system comprising:

group registration means for registering respective members of a group comprising customers by relating group identification information for identifying the group to personal identification information for identifying each of the customers, and

service provision means for providing a service of high convenience for the group to each of the members of the group, wherein

the group registration means enables registration of the personal identification information by relating the personal identification information to the group identification information of two or more groups in which at most a subset of the group members among the two or more groups are common.

13. The service provision system according to claim 12, wherein the personal identification information is recorded in an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification).

14. The service provision system according to claim 12, wherein the service provision means further comprises:

identification information transmission means for transmitting the personal identification information while being held by each of the customers, wherein the group registration means receives the personal identification information from the identification information transmission means and displays a list of groups to which the customer holding the identification information transmission means belongs based on the received personal identification information of the customer.

15. The service provision system according to claim12, wherein the subset of the group members is less than a total number of group members of a smallest group among the two or more groups, wherein the smallest group has the least number of group members among the two or more groups.

16. A service provision system comprising:

group registration means for registering respective members of a group comprising customers by relating group identification information for identifying the group to personal identification information for identifying each of the customers;

group changing means for registering one or more of the members of the group identified by the personal identification information related to the group identification information, as a member or members of another group by relating the personal identification information to the group identification information for identifying the group to which the member or members newly belong; and

service provision means for providing a service of high convenience for the groups, to each of the members of the groups,

wherein the group changing means registers an effective period of membership of each of the customers in each of the groups by relating the effective period to the group identification information of each of the groups.

17. The service provision system according to claim 16, wherein the personal identification information is recorded in an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification).

18. The service provision system according to claim 16, wherein the effective period of membership can be defined by at least two of three items comprising starting time and date of the corresponding group, ending time and date thereof, and a period in which the group exists.

19. The service provision system according to claim 16, wherein the effective period of membership of each of the customers in each of the groups is independent of the other customers in the corresponding group.

20. A service provision system comprising:

group registration means for registering respective members of a group comprising customers by relating group identification information for identifying the group to personal identification information for identifying each of the customers, and

service provision means for providing a service of high convenience for the group to each of the members of the group, wherein

the service provision means provides the service according to the number of the members in the group,

wherein the service provision means provides an information provision service and comprises;

information storage means for storing information on various goods and/or services to be provided to the customers, by relating the information to the number of the members, which is suitable for provision of the information, in the group; and

information output means for outputting the information appropriate for the customers in the group, based on the number of the members in the group identified by the group identification information related to the personal identification information of the customers.

21. The service provision system according to claim 20,

the service provision means further comprising customer registration means for registering a property of each of the customers by relating the property to the personal identification information thereof,

the information storage means storing the information by further relating the information to the property, which is suitable for provision of the information, of each of the customers, and

the information output means outputting the information appropriate for each of the customers, based on the property of each of the customers related to the personal identification information thereof.

22. The service provision system according to claim 20, wherein the personal identification information is recorded in an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification).